"Jirachi, come with me for now."
Feng Che raised a Poké Ball, pulling the Wishing Star inside. Just as the light faded, a sharp whistling sound cut through the air behind him. A jagged stone spike streaked toward the back of his head. Feng Che tilted his head slightly, and the stone projectile grazed his cheek, shattering against a nearby pillar.
"It's you... the thief who tried to infiltrate the Temple," Brandon's voice boomed from the shadows. "I won't let you take Jirachi. It is the cornerstone of the Temple's grand design."
"Hmph. The Temple? They aren't even worth a mention," Feng Che sneered. "I told you, our next meeting would be our final battle. Go, Genesect!"
Feng Che released the Paleozoic Pokémon. The massive Genesect landed with a heavy, metallic thud, its presence radiating a suffocating pressure. Brandon's Regirock moved instantly, positioning its rocky bulk in front of its master to shield him from the aura.
"Genesect, here is the opponent I promised you. Unleash your power to your heart's content!"
Genesect flexed its metallic limbs, activating Shift Gear. Its physical edges seemed to sharpen, and its offensive presence surged. With a mechanical hiss, Genesect extended its sickle-like claws and lunged at Regirock like a violet bolt of lightning.
Regirock slammed its left leg into the shrine floor, causing a forest of jagged stone spikes to erupt from the ground. They struck Genesect with a series of sharp cracks, but the stones failed to pierce the Meteoric Iron armor. Instead, they shattered into dust upon impact. Genesect's claw swept through the air in a gleaming arc, slicing through Regirock's hardened stone body as if it were soft tofu, shearing the Titan clean in half.
"Impossible! Its attack power is terrifying," Brandon gasped. "Regirock is made of the hardest mineral strata, yet it was bisected so easily. Go, Registeel!"
The Steel Titan emerged, intercepting Genesect's follow-up strike. Sparks showered the room as metal clashed with metal. Registeel managed to halt the claw, but Brandon's eyes widened as he saw deep gouges left in the Titan's supposedly indestructible surface.
"This creature is a Steel-type as well? Its claws are harder than Registeel's body... what is it made of?"
"Genesect, Flamethrower!"
The cannon on Genesect's back swiveled and locked onto Registeel. Four sub-muzzles deployed, unleashing a concentrated blast of white-hot fire. The inferno struck Registeel with the force of a battering ram, forcing the massive Titan to skid backward across the shrine. The temperature in the underground chamber began to skyrocket as white flames licked the ancient walls.
Death from Above
Above the island, General Julian's warship hovered over the Battle Tower.
"General Julian, our sensors detect a high-intensity battle occurring directly beneath the tower's foundation," Shumoto reported.
Julian sneered, a look of bored impatience on his face. "Fire the main cannon. Don't let some petty thief walk away with my prize. If we can't have Jirachi, no one will."
Shumoto relayed the order. A massive rail-gun barrel extended from the ship's keel.
"Energy Cannon charging..." "1%... 10... 50%..." "100%. Lock confirmed."
Shumoto slammed his fist onto the fire control button. A blinding pillar of golden energy erupted from the ship, screaming toward the earth with the sound of a world ending.
"Feng Che! I sense a massive energy surge descending upon us!" Mewtwo warned, its voice sharp with alarm. Even with its God-tier strength, Mewtwo knew a direct hit from a ship-grade energy weapon would be devastating.
"Return, Genesect!" Feng Che recalled the Pokémon mid-swing.
"Our match ends here," Feng Che shouted to Brandon. Before the archeologist could respond, Feng Che vanished in a burst of Teleport.
Seconds later, the energy beam struck the Battle Tower.
A titanic explosion turned the night into day. The blinding white radiance engulfed the entire Battle Island. The tower itself didn't just collapse—it vaporized, its structural steel turning into molten rain in a heartbeat. A massive mushroom cloud rose into the sky, followed by a series of secondary detonations that leveled every building on the island.
As the smoke began to thin, a gargantuan crater sat where the Battle Tower had once stood. Julian looked down from his bridge and smiled. The shockwave had scoured the island clean, leaving nothing but scorched earth and flowing magma.
Deep underground, the Starry Sky Shrine rocked violently. Brandon was nearly thrown off his feet as tons of debris began to rain from the ceiling. White-hot fire from the surface blast began to pour down the tunnel Brandon had dug.
"Dammit! Someone bombed the surface!" Brandon cried. He watched as a wall of fire roared toward the shrine. "Regice, use Blizzard! Freeze the flames!"
Regice clapped its frozen hands together. A wave of Absolute Zero air swept through the shrine, instantly flash-freezing the incoming magma and dousing the fire in a crystalline coat of ice.